Western Australia shaken by largest earthquake in 50 years

[marmar]

Western Australia shaken by largest earthquake in 50 years
2010-04-20 11:30:00


Western Australia's Kalgoorlie city was on Tuesday rocked by the biggest earthquake to hit the region in 50 years, damaging several buildings and causing the Kalgoorlie gold mine to be evacuated.

A 5.0-magnitude tremor struck about 8.20a.m. local time (23.20GMT), but so far there have been no reports of injuries.

Geoscience Australia seismologist, David Jepsen, said the quake hit about 10 kilometres southwest of Kalgoorlie and was fairly shallow.

"People in Kalgoorlie would have experienced strong shaking. We would expect people up to several hundred kilometres away would have felt it," News.com.au quoted Jepsen, as saying. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://sify.com/news/western-australia-shaken-by-largest-earthquake-in-50-years-news-international-keul4cjagfh.html

[DefenseLawyer]

1. The promiscuous women have been busy lately n/t

[ShortnFiery]

2. Paging Nostradamus!?!

After the Volcanos, come the Earthquakes.

If Italy rocks and The Pope is evacuated, I'm going to party like The End of Times. :silly: :tinfoilhat:

[NoNothing]

3. Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies!

Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes! The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!

[Nikki Stone1]

6. It's been a while since I've heard a Nostradamus reference

The order was volcanoes, earthquakes, and then the Pope leaving the Vatican? Wasn't there some dude in a blue turban too? (I get my info from Coast to Coast, so it may be warped. :) )

[cutlassmama]

5. It's their clothing. heh heh

[skeptical cynic]

4. Why Have There Been So Many Geological Catastrophes Lately?

From: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/04/19/why_have_there_been_so_many_geological_catastrophes_lately

These days, you don't have to be a conspiracy theorist or religious fanatic to wonder whether there's something strange going on with the Earth. Major earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, and China have killed thousands, and a cloud of volcanic ash has grounded flights across Europe. This past weekend also saw deadly quakes in Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, and the Dominican Republic. So is the Earth going through a period of especially high geological activity?

No, we're just paying more attention. 2010 is actually shaping up to be a perfectly average year for quakes. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, since 1900 the Earth has experienced an average of 16 major quakes -- magnitude 7.0 or higher -- per year. In the first four months of 2010, there have been six. So though this will likely be a worse year than 1986, when there were only six major quakes total, it's unlikely to be as bad as 1943, when there were 32. And while major earthquakes like the ones in Haiti and Chile typically cause numerous aftershocks, scientists don't think that they are directly causing each other.